rarity in the NFL. Punters have gotten better each year at placing their kicks in spots that make it harder and harder to run back.Despite all that's stacked up against them Kalen Ballage Jersey , there are still a few returners who can turn the sometimes mundane kicking plays into breathtaking ones.Miami's Jakeem Grant beat out Kansas City‘s Tyreek Hill as the NFL's top returner in 2018 in voting released Friday by a panel of 10 football writers for The Associated Press.Grant received the honor the same week he was placed on season-ending injured reserve with a leg injury."Grant has a touchdown on a punt return and a kickoff return. Such a distinction is almost extinct thanks to the rule changes," said Dallas-based Schuyler Dixon.Grant has excelled as an all-around returner, ranking fourth in kick return average (29.7 yards) and first on punts (16.3) before his injury. Only six players have enough returns to qualify for the league leaders in both categories.The return game is growing less important by the year. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of all kickoffs have resulted in touchbacks, the most in NFL history, and there have been fewer punt returns through 12 weeks than at any point since the merger. Grant has two of the league's seven return touchdowns so far this season, the fewest through 12 weeks in a non-strike year and down from a high of 31 at this point just 11 years ago.Hill, who returned a punt for a score in Week 1, received five first-place votes to the four for Grant, even though he is not used on kicks and has just 17 punt returns as he plays a bigger role on offense."Punts against the Chiefs are the wrong time for a bathroom break, with Hill and his five career return touchdowns in three NFL seasons waiting to catch them," Minneapolis-based Dave Campbell said. "Wait until the commercial."More Miami Dolphins newsMaking it official: Dolphins hire Super Bowl-winning Patriots assistant Brian Flores as 13th head coach in franchise historyJaguars CB Jalen Ramsey catches a TD on offense as AFC thumps NFC in rainy Pro Bowl in OrlandoDolphins meet again with Patriots assistant Brian FloresDolphins must wait until after Super Bowl to seal deal with Patriots LB coach Brian FloresFormer Dolphins six-time Pro Bowl selection Bob Kuechenberg dies at age 71In all, 21 players received at least one vote, with only Grant, Hill, Andre Roberts of the Jets and New England's Cordarrelle Patterson appearing on all 10 ballots.Like Grant, Roberts is one of the handful of players to excel at both kicks and punts and finished third, one spot ahead of Patterson."Roberts has been one of the few bright spots this season for a struggling Jets team," New York-based Dennis Waszak said. "He has re-established himself as a dangerous dual threat in the return game, highlighted by a 78-yard punt return for a TD. Roberts also leads the NFL with three punt returns of 40 or more yards."The other first-place vote went to Tennessee's kick return specialist Darius Jennings, who ranked fifth overall and also has a return for a score."Who? Yes Durham Smythe Jersey , someone who came into the NFL as a rookie free agent out of Virginia and now is with his fourth different team is leading the league, averaging 34.8 yards per kickoff return," said Nashville-based Teresa Walker, who voted Jennings first.Rounding out the top 10 were Chicago's Tarik Cohen, Desmond King of the Chargers, Cincinnati's Alex Erickson, Kansas City's kick returner Tremon Smith, and JoJo Natson of the Rams."Almost as exciting a player as Tyreek Hill, Cohen will get more touches on offense as his career moves along," New York-based Barry Wilner said of Cohen, who was named on nine ballots. "That's kind of disappointing because it means fewer opportunities to show his stuff on returns."___The rankings:1. Jakeem Grant, Dolphins2. Tyreek Hill, Chiefs3. Andre Roberts, Jets4. Cordarrelle Patterson, Patriots5. Darius Jennings, Titans6. Tarik Cohen, Bears7. Desmond King, Chargers8. Alex Erickson, Bengals9. Tremon Smith, Chiefs10. JoJo Natson Jerome Baker Jersey , Rams Divisional Round GamesI was hoping today would bring slightly better news after the games this weekend. If you watched them then you already know that Rams did their job to knock out Cowboys, the Colts did not play like everyone assumed, and the Chargers failed miserably. Not exactly the same Patriots that played against us in Miami. The positive we can take away from the Chargers vs Patriots game is that their defense was legit and if Brian Flores did indeed lead the defense, then I’m kinda excited to see how he will be as our new head coach. That being said, you’re welcome Chiefs. The only reason the AFC Championship game will be at Arrowhead and not Gillette is because of the Miami Miracle. We all know that Brady does not perform as well at away games. The Patriots lost five games this season and they were all on the road. They played the Chiefs earlier in the season and that was quite a game and they came close to losing that one with final score of 43-40. Now that was a home game for them. This will be a home game for the Chiefs at Arrowhead.Not an easy place to play for sure. Chiefs definitely have the bigger advantage here. They haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1970. I believe this team, with their amazingly talented quarterback Mahomes, and their fans are determined to do what it takes to make sure they play in Atlanta this February. Let’s also not forget this little tidbit about Brady. Remember the 2016 AFC Championship game?We beat the Patriots at home and many fans said, “Who cares”. Well, they lost home-field advantage and had to play the Broncos and lost. Do you think we can hope to achieve the same outcome next weekend? I sure do hope so. Most of America, and apparently the UK as many fans tweeted to me, hope so. Just imagine for a second how it would be for Atlanta to host the Super Bowl to the Saints and Patriots. Falcons’ fans may not even want to leave their house that weekend. But, let’s all hope (and I’ll pray) that it doesn’t come down to that. Lets briefly touch on the Saints and Eagles game. Thank you Saints for stepping it up. I personally didn’t want there to be a chance for another repeat Super Bowl of Pats/Eagles, because I’m pretty sure Brady would win that one. The first half looked a bit rocky and I started to get a bit nervous. That being said, it’s Drew Brees. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and you know they weren’t going to go down that easily against Nick Foles. Now, the Eagles did put up a good fight and looked to have a chance to win the game, if it weren’t for the ball slipping through the hands of Alshon Jeffery into Saints’ Marshon Lattimore for an interception. You kinda feel for Jeffery. Especially when you learn that he was playing that game with cracked ribs, so now I feel kinda worse for him. I mean, it’s not like this is the Cody Parkey situation, which would have guaranteed a win for the Bears by making a 3-pt kick. Next Sunday we have the long awaited AFC and NFC Championship games. It will be the Saints hosting the Rams at 3:05pm and the Chiefs hosting the Patriots at 6:40pm. We will find out who will be in the Super Bowl next Sunday. I personally wouldn’t mind a rematch of one of the best games of the season with Rams vs Chiefs. I won’t be mad if the Saints do come out as the winner, but just as long as it’s against the Chiefs. Chiefs Mike Gesicki Jersey , we’re counting on you. Most of America is counting on you. No pressure or anything. What’s Next For Our DolphinsThere are already several articles posted about the supposed new head coach hire for the Miami Dolphins. Basically everyone is saying once the Patriots are done their DB coach, Brian Flores, will be our new head coach. I was unsure about this rumor and was kinda hoping for Kris Richards, but I’m going to remain hopeful. It Grier we trust, right? Flores may not have much head coaching experience but rumor is he is bringing on Jim Caldwell as an assistant coach or OC or something. It seems nobody knows exactly for sure, but that he does want to bring him on the staff. Maybe as kind of a mentor since he does have experience as a head coach. I just hope our special teams coach Rizzi will want to remain with the team and that Grier and Flores agree as well. We already know the players love and respect him. Who will be our quarterback for 2019? Are the rumors true that the Dolphins are looking to tank 2019 for a decent draft spot for 2020 to pick our franchise quarterback? Adam Schefter believes the Dolphins will wait another year to draft a quarterback.I’m definitely alright with waiting till then, but not alright with tanking next season. I don’t think players on our team will want to do that. I would prefer to find a quarterback to fill the spot until 2020. Honestly, if Tannehill wasn’t due for so much money, I’d be fine keeping him as our starter for one more year. Who else can we get? Nick Foles looks to be released from the Eagles this year but I don’t want him with us. A bit too costly at $20 million and I just want someone for one more year until 2020. I agree with this tweet here. Who do you think will be our starter this upcoming season? I guess things will start to unfold once the Patriots are knocked this upcoming Sunday. Time will tell. P.S. I didn’t forget about the whole Gase being the Jets new head coach. I’m just still a bit emotional about it all. I’m a bit confused, angry, and amused. How weird is it going to be seeing Gase come into Hard Rock next year with the Jets? THE JETS. Really? Many of their fans were outraged by the news and several others were a bit shocked. As long as we sweep them again, it’s cool. Still weird though. Hope you all have an enjoyable week. Next Saturday is the first one of 2019 without football. Let’s take a moment of silence real quick for those of us who will miss those full weekends of football. That being said, the draft is not that far around the corner.See you all next Monday when we’ll either have the announcement of our new head coach, or we’ll all be rolling our eyes at another Super Bowl. ***EDIT***Alright, I published this right before Gase’s first press conference as the Jets’ head coach. I’m sorry, but what? Let’s enjoy some of the faces of Gase and be a bit happier that he is no longer our coach. How about this one from Will Brinson. One more. If you want to watch it all and laugh at all the positive remarks they are making about Gase that was made three years ago by Dolphins, here is a link. Happy Monday DolFans! Hope you get a good laugh out of it.